Mormonism

Yes. Most members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the "Mormon" church) believe that some or all of the Native Americans descend from three groups described in the Book of Mormon - the Nephites, Lamanites, and Jaredites. These were groups of Israelites which left the Old World (the Jaredites at the time of the Tower of Babel, the Nephites and Lamanites at the reign of Zedekiah).

The Mormons were able to settle successfuly at the Great Salt Lake due to their faith, strength, steadfast determination to settle together in a place where they would not be persecuted for their religious beliefs and where the lord wanted them to be.

People died, babies were born, they sang, slept, ate, went to the bathroom, basically they just lived their lives. Except...they did all this in severe blizzards, boiling heat, chill winds, and in harsh climate, too. But mostly people died.

Brigham Young lead the first group of Mormon pioneers along the Mormon Trail to Utah in 1846-47. Subsequent groups came over the next 25 years lead by various experienced trail guides.

The Mormon Trail followed a similar route to the Oregon Trail until Wyoming, when it went south to Utah rather than north to Oregon.

Improved answer - Brigham Young was the president of the church at that time, when the Mormons were being driven out of Missouri by mobs, including an illegal extermination order by the USA government. The leaders of the church sent expeditionary parties west to find a place where Mormons could live in peace without being persecuted.

After gathering information about the west from trappers, mountain men and a Jesuit missionary, Brigham Young and the other church leaders decided to move west, although they did not have an exact place in mind.

As the Mormons moved west along the trail, some families were left in certain places to establish resupply points and/or settlements, such as Winter Quarters, (now Council Bluffs, Iowa). When one of the first groups with Brigham Young left Winter Quarters, there were 73 wagons, various animals and supplies.

Brigham Young met Jim Bridger and discussed the possible routes to the Salt Lake valley and if the valley would be feasible for settlement. The wagon train continued on, facing many challenges such as severe illnesses, extremely rugged and hazardous mountains to cross, worn out wagons and exhausted people and animals. They arrived in the Salt Lake valley in July of 1847 and started the settlement.

Many thousands of Mormon pioneers continued the trek across the USA to the Salt Lake valley. Mormons from Europe traveling by ships continued on in wagon trains and hand carts too. Mormons arrived on the west coast and traveled over Donner Pass to get the Salt Lake valley. The wagon trains and hand cart pioneers had a leader, such as a wagon master or trail boss as they traveled.

His greatest goal was to lead the Mormons from Illinois to Utah. Once that was achieved, he continued to lead the Mormons through peace and prosperity. To that end, it was very important to him that Utah become a state, and that the rights of the Mormons be preserved and protected. To lower the infant mortality rate, he sent many women back East to learn medicine.

The United States of America is home to 5,974,041 of the 13,508,509 baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (commonly called "Mormons) worldwide. Which means that about 44% of Church members live in the United States.

The Mormon population of each country and state can be found by going to:

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/statistical-information

then clicking "Map View"

The migration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Utah helped the idea of Manifest Destiny progress in that a new territory was settled by the Church. However, there is a subtle distinction between the two migration patterns. Manifest Destiny was the idea that the United States had the moral privilege of expanding from coast to coast; the Church migration, on the other hand, was done out of necessity to escape persecution and was done as a group of colonists rather than as agents for United States expansion.

The Mormons generally got on a bit better with the Native-Americans than many of the other western pioneers but the record was certainly not unblemished. One reason for the somewhat better relations was that their belief that the Native Americans were at least partially descended from the people whose record was found in the Book of Mormon. That didn't prevent all conflicts but it certainly lessened them and encouraged the early members of the church to treat the Native Americans more equitably. Funny how that works - you treat other people with some respect and you get along better with them...

There is folklore to the effect that a treaty signed by Brigham Young with some of the Native Americans is one of the only treaties ever signed with them that was never broken by the white men. It would be interesting to find out if that is true.

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The name "Mormon" comes from the "Book of Mormon," which Mormons consider scripture. The Book of Mormon is about early immigrants to this hemisphere from Jerusalem and about their history, culture, and religion. Mormons have long regarded Native Americans as a remnant of those Book of Mormon people and have been interested in proselyting or preaching to them to share what they believe is Native American scripture. Many "Indians" have joined the Mormon Church, but many have not. Native Americans obviously have a variety of ancestors, and perhaps most are not descendents of Book of Mormon people; modern archaeological research suggests that the most likely descendents of Book of Mormon people would be from Central America. Interestingly, the Mormon Church has experienced some of its greatest growth among those people of Central and South America, who obviously feel a kinship with the Book of Mormon people. During pioneer times, because of that interest in who the Native Americans were, Mormons treated them with more kindness and consideration than they often got from other American settlers, and the two groups generally got along very well. Even so, there were some clashes early in Utah history, most notably the "Walker War," a very short dispute between Chief Wakara and settlers in Utah County. In an effort to help Native Americans receive needed education, in the 1950s, the Church started a program of fostering Native American children with Mormon families throughout Utah and Idaho (and possibly other areas) during the school year. The "Indian Placement Program" continued for 20 or 30 years and resulted in many close ties between Mormon and "Indian" families. There were certainly problems and disappointments on both sides, but many children benefitted greatly before the program was eventually discontinued.

The Mormon Pioneer Trail is a 1,300-mile travelled by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1846 to 1868. The Mormon Trail extends from Nauvoo, Illinois on the Mississipi river, passing through Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Eastern Utah to Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Mormon pioneer movement began in 1846 when, after having been driven once again by mob violence from their settled home, the Saints decided to establish a new home for the church outside the established boundaries of the United States. The trail was used for more than 20 years, until the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869.

Among the emigrants were the Mormon handcart pioneers of 1856-1860. Two of the handcart companies, led by James G. Willie and Edward Martin, met disaster on the trail when they departed late and were caught by heavy snowstorms in Wyoming.

Once the Mormons arrived in Salt Lake, some were asked by the Prophet Brigham Young to go settle other places such as Genoa, Nevada; St. George, Utah; Cardston, Alberta, Canada and many other settlements in the territory of Deseret.

See Related Links for more information.

According to official 2008 year end statistics, there are 38,188 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Portugal. To learn more about the Church in Portugal, visit the "Related Link" below.

The Mormon Trail was traveled almost constantly for over 20 years. As the trail goes through the center of the United States, the weather was typically hot and somewhat dry in the summer, and cold and snowy in the winter.

I would say that Brigham Young's biggest weakness was that he was a tad overzealous at times. He was a great leader, but sometimes took his authority to the extreme. Most of the 'extreme' things that he asked his people to do were rarely obeyed, such as avoiding loud laughter at the theatre and wearing the 'Deseret Costume'.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon is a nickname) were forced to leave Nauvoo, Illinois by mobs. The exodus started 04 Feb 1846 with the last leaving Nauvoo in September of 1846. During that time around 14,000 members went west across the Mississippi River into Iowa, then on west across Iowa. They were headed to the Rocky Mountains but weather and the on coming winter forced them to stop in Kanesville (today Council Bluffs), Iowa. Early in 1847 the first of many wagon train companys, handcart companys, etc made their way on west to the Great Basin (today Salt Lake City, Utah). This movement lasted for the next 10 years (1847 thru 1858) inwhich around 70,000 members settled the Great Basin. Today Salt Lake City, Utah is where the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is located. (See www.LDS.org)

After the Book of Mormon was found, people became angry. They martyred the Prophet Joseph Smith. Afterwards, persecution for the Mormons became worse, and they decided to move to Utah for a place to live without persecution.

Both Mormons and homesteaders faced the problem of living far from 'civilized' society. Getting supplies from the east was difficult, so most were forced to live entirely off the land.

As of January 2012, there were 14.4 million baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the "Mormon" church) worldwide. Membership statistics of the Mormon church are calculated each January and reported each April.

Orson Pratt and Erastus Snow were the lead elements of the advance party to scout out the valley and find the Donner trail. They arrived in the Salt Lake valley July 21, 1847, a full three days ahead of Brigham Young and the main body of Saints.

The Mormons were a religious group founded by Joseph Smith. They moved west because other religions were prosecuting them and they needed a new place where they wouldn't be bothered. They first went to Salt Lake. That is where Brigham Young said "This is the place."

Brigham Young was ordained an Apostle on February 14, 1835 under the hands of the Three Witnesses; Oliver Cowdry, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris.

The Three Witnesses were called by revelation to choose the Twelve Apostles and were "blessed by the laying of the the hands of the First Presidency" (Joseph Smith, Jr., Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams) to ordain the Twelve Apostles (see Church History Vol 2 page 187)

Joseph Smith, Jr. and Oliver Cowdry received the Melchizedek Priesthood in 1829 under the hands of Peter, James, and John. They were visited by Peter, James, and John who were sent as resurrected beings to restore the Priesthood authority to the earth. (See Doctrine and Covenants 21:12-13)

Peter, James, and John were ordained Apostles by the Lord Jesus Christ. (See John 15:16)

Brigham Young was ordained an Elder on the date of his baptism, April 14, 1832 by Eleazer Miller, however, Priesthood lines of authority are counted from the highest office of priesthood received, so the line of authority extending from Elder Miller is insignificant.

As of December 2010, there have been 16 presidents in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (commonly referred to as "Mormons"). The succession order of the prophets goes as follows, and can be remember by this catchy song:

Latter-day prophets are, #1, Joseph Smith,

then Brigham Young.

John Taylor came third, we know,

then Wilford Woodruff,

Lorenzo Snow.

Joseph F. Smith (remember the F).

Heber J. Grant,

then George Albert Smith.

David O. McKay was followed by

Joseph Fielding Smith.

Harold B. Lee,

Spencer W. Kimball,

Ezra Taft Benson,

Howard W. Hunter;

Gordon B. Hinkley lead the way,

but Thomas S. Monson leads today.

Some of the hardships facing Americans during World War II was the loss of a male figure in the home. The United States was just getting over the Great Depression years and then war broke out. Many families were still trying to stay afloat. Rationing of commodities was also a problem.

A prophet named Joseph Smith was given revelation about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints otherwise known as Mormons. After he started to teach about the gospel he learned about, many did not agree with it and were mad. They thought Joseph Smith was crazy and sent many mobs to hurt him. Other Mormon families were persecuted and ridiculed during the late 1800's and 1900's. Some reasons why people did not like them were because at first they had practiced polygamy although it is not allowed in their religion anymore. Also, they believed they were the only true church and in many different things people just weren't used to. They had to move to many different places in the U.S. and it was extremely hard for them.